Page 11 - The-Academic-value-of-mobility-2018

Many people want to study abroad, but there

is a need for more support
A significant proportion of young people want to spend some of their period of
study abroad. For example, the Ungdomsbarometern 2016 survey showed that
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there is great interest for studying abroad, particularly on exchanges. Other sur-
veys that only relate to students in higher education also confirm this. 8

The need for internationalisation and mobility is put forward by both the gov-
ernment and the students themselves. In the report Räcker det med undervisning
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på engelska? (Is teaching in English enough?) the Swedish National Union of
Students, SFS, makes the case that HEIs should do more for internationalisation
and mobility. In the report, SFS particularly emphasises that HEIs should invest
more in the educational aspects linked to internationalisation.

However, the actual number of students who study abroad is not equivalent to
the interest the students show in student exchanges. Several reports examine
possible reasons for this. For example, the Bologna Process Implementation Report
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(2015) states that, apart from personal reasons, there are two main barriers to
studying abroad; one is the syllabus or the organisation of studies, another is the
lack of information and encouragement. Other barriers that are mentioned are
the student’s family situation, personal relationships, the fear of missing parts of
the studies at home, that studies will take longer, that studying abroad is difficult
to combine with studies at home, and a lack of support from their HEI.

Surveys also show that many students see personal development as the most
important benefit of a student exchange. They do not always see the academic
value of studying abroad or the way in which a student exchange fits into the
studies at home. They worry about the costs and are concerned that studying
abroad will delay the end of their studies. 12

In a study of Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish students’ attitudes to studying
abroad, Swedish students were less likely to report that they had been encouraged
to participate in an exchange than Finnish students. Finland also has a greater
proportion of students who go on exchanges. The Swedish students were less
likely than Finnish ones to report that they received guidance prior to their stu-

7 In 2016, Ungdomsbarometern was responded to by around 16,000 people aged 15 to
24. Those in upper-secondary school who answered that they planned to enter higher
education were then asked, ”What is your attitude to studying abroad?”
8 E.g. the Sifo survey 2008 – Utlandsstudier och internationellt utbyte, Internationella
Programkontoret, Sifo, 2008 and Hussein, Yasmin & Mörck, Hanna, Många vill – få
kommer till skott, Varför studerar inte fler utomlands?, Uppsala studentkår, 2013.
9 E.g. Bill 2008/09:175, Gränslös kunskap – högskolan i globaliseringens tid, 2009.
10 SFS, Räcker det med undervisning på engelska? En granskning av strategier för interna­
tionalisering av högre utbildning, 2014.
11 European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, The European Higher Education Area in 2015
– Bologna Process Implementation Report, 2015.
12 UHR, Cimo, SIU, Living and learning – Exchange studies abroad, 2013 and Hussein,
Yasmin & Mörck, Hanna, Många vill – få kommer till skott, Varför studerar inte fler
utomlands?, Uppsala studentkår, 2013.

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